Pictello
4+

Talking visual story creator

Screenshots

Description

Everyone loves to tell fun, engaging, and imaginative stories. Go ahead and make a social story or visual schedule for a child with autism or a slide show of holiday pictures for your friends - Pictello makes it a breeze to create and share! Whether you use the included natural-sounding Text to Speech voices, or record your own voice, Pictello is the perfect tool for visual storytelling.

Each page in a Pictello story consists of a photo or video and some text, which can be read aloud by a Text to Speech voice or your own recorded audio.

Develop literacy skills- Support reading with word-by-word text highlighting- Develop writing and spelling with built-in word prediction and Speak as You Type- Create stories to teach academic and social skills- Import free early literacy and adapted academic books from Tar Heel Reader

Create and playback with ease- Let students use the wizard to create stories- Play stories page by page or as a slideshow- Use Text to Speech voices to read the story- Turn on switch access for story playback

Integrate multimedia- Add your own photos- Include short video clips - Record your own voice or sound

Share your stories- Share with other Pictello users through our free sharing server- Use Dropbox to exchange stories- Export to PDF or print to share with non-Pictello users

Educational institutions can get a 50% discount if they purchase 20 or more licenses through Apple’s Volume Licensing Program for Education.

What's New

Version History

3.5

Apr 24, 2018

This update introduces the first genuine Dutch Text to Speech voices for children, Merel and Thijs. We spent nearly a year creating these voices in collaboration with Acapela Group and NSGK, and we’re very happy to be able to offer young Dutch AAC users voices which they can identify with.

Version 3.5 includes some bug fixes. This update also includes display optimization for all models of iPad.

Thanks again for using our app!

3.4

Sep 28, 2017

Ciao Italian speakers! With this new version, Pictello’s user interface is now available in Italian and includes two genuine Italian Text to Speech children’s voices: Alessio and Aurora.

Pictello 3.4 is now compatible with the new iOS 11 and fully optimized for the new 10.5” iPad. Additionally, we worked on several bug fixes to improve the performance of the app.

3.3

Jun 22, 2017

This is an important update for all Pictello users. At the end of this month, on June 28th, the previous version of Pictello will no longer be compatible with Dropbox. To continue to make backups with Dropbox, users will need to update to version 3.3.

This update also includes new voices and several enhancements:- Refined voice options- Improved backups with iTunes File Sharing- Backups can now be deleted- A Cancel button has been added, so the creation of stories can be cancelled - Two Norwegian children’s voices: Elias and Emilie

3.2

Jun 8, 2016

Pictello 3.2 adds two new French children’s voices: Elise and Valentin. The voices are available in two variants; one that supports the Belgian French way of speaking numbers between 70 and 99 and one speaking those numbers the Parisian French way.

Both voices can be downloaded for free from within the app. With these new voices Pictello now offers free genuine children’s voices for 7 different languages/dialects.

3.1

Feb 2, 2016

Pictello 3.1 adds two new female voices to use in your stories: American English Sharon and German Claudia. Both voices are based on additional recordings and optimized linguistic processes by Acapela Group, making them even more natural, fluid and intelligible.

Pictello 3.1 also includes two brand new natural-sounding Swedish children’s voices: Filip and Freja. With these new voices Pictello now offers free genuine children’s Text to Speech voices for 6 different languages/dialects.

Pictello now supports importing the free early literacy and adapted academic books from Tar Heel Reader. Learn more on the AssistiveWare web site.

Version 3.1 also fixes the Auto Clean option for removal of old backups, and some other small bugs.

3.0.1

Sep 9, 2015

Welcome Rhona, the delightful new Scottish English voice from Acapela! Pictello 3.0.1 also adds compatibility with upcoming iOS releases, and includes the exciting literacy supports we introduced in Pictello 3.0. With 3.0.1, Pictello requires iOS 8.4 or later, and supports iPhone 4S, iPod 5G, iPad 2, and later.

3.0

Sep 13, 2014

Pictello 3.0 is a major release with many new features:

- Word prediction - reduce typing and build early literacy skills with word prediction, available in 15 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Italian, Turkish, Catalan, Czech, Finnish, Polish, Portuguese - Speak as you type - hear what you are typing by letter, word, sentence or paragraph. - Switch access - read stories with switches! Use one or two switches to play back your story and turn pages, or use the screen as a single switch with Auto Play.

- Repeated taps - help your happy tappers be more functional: ignore repeated taps during playback, or use them to pause and resume audio or video. - New French voice, Manon. - Full screen photo taking - Improved photo picker - Refined story creation wizard - Designed for iOS 7 and later

- Announcements and news messages in your Options

- A few small enhancements

2.1

Jan 28, 2014

Pictello 2.1 offers three brand-new bilingual American Spanish/English Text to Speech voices. They include one adult male voice (Rodrigo/Rod) and two children’s voices (Emilio and Valeria). These bilingual children’s voices are an industry-first co-developed by Acapela Group, AssistiveWare and Tobii Technology.

Version 2.1 also includes several other new voices: Robot (French specialty voice), Scott (genuine American English teenage boy voice), Nizar (British English male voice), Minji (Korean female voice) and Monika (Polish female voice).

2.0

Sep 9, 2013

- Now include short videos in your stories! Use your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad camera to take video clips from within Pictello, or choose video clips from your photo albums!

- Photos and videos you take within Pictello are now saved to your camera roll for easy use in other apps.

- Now you can pause while recording audio in Expert Mode!

- Improved progress information when importing and exporting large stories

1.7

May 21, 2013

- Meet Jonas and Lea, the first German children's Text to Speech voices. Based on recordings by real children, Jonas and Lea provide natural-sounding speech for German stories. Co-developed by Acapela Group, AssistiveWare and Tobii Technology, these brand new voices are now available as free downloads in Pictello.

- New Australian English genuine children's Text to Speech voices co-developed by Acapela Group and AssistiveWare are also available, along with a new adult female Australian English voice. Liam, Olivia, and Lisa can be downloaded for free inside Pictello!

1.6

Nov 13, 2012

- Work on literacy goals with word-by-word text highlighting for text to speech!

1.5.1

1.5

Jul 23, 2012

Many new voices available as free downloads:

- Meet Harry, Rosie, Josh and Ella! Acapela and AssistiveWare have partnered to create the first text-to-speech voices based on real children’s voices. Harry and Rosie are British English voices and Josh and Ella are American English.- Introducing Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Australian English voices- New voices for American and British English, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, German, Norwegian, and Swedish.- New Expressive Mode voices – some of Acapela’s voices now come in expressive versions such as Happy, Sad, Far Away, and Up Close. Download these for fun effects! Available for selected American and British English, French, Greek, and Belgian Dutch voices.- New American English Character voices Hip-Hop Saul Texas Cowboy Micah, Evil Will, Little Creature Will, and British English Queen Elizabeth!

- Wood theme graphics optimized to take advantage of the new iPad retina display!

- Photos taken with the rear camera of the new iPad are now shown at high resolution for gorgeous stories!

- Introducing PresenterTouch™ - when an external display is attached and you’re in mirroring mode, a small circle will appear wherever your finger(s) touch the screen. Participants in a training can now see your touches projected on the external display and no longer need to guess where you are touching the screen.

- Enhanced voice downloading reliability

- Other minor bug fixes and enhancements

1.4

Nov 17, 2011

- Share with non-Pictello users! Export your stories as PDF files, and share them with anyone using email, iTunes File Sharing, or by printing to any AirPrint-compatible printer.

Voice downloading improvements: - Multiple voices can be queued for download - Voice downloads can complete while you're doing something else in Pictello or when Pictello is running in the background (for devices that support multitasking)

Story importing improvements: - When you export a story to the sharing server and choose to email the story code to another Pictello user, the receipient can tap on a link in the email to import the story into Pictello on their device. - When you export a story to iTunes File Sharing, you can put the .pictello file into any iOS app that supports the Document Integration "Open With" feature, and have the story automatically imported into Pictello from the other app. - When you import a story from the Sharing Server or from another app using Document Integration, the story automatically opens for reading.

Fonts: added Noteworthy and ChalkboardSE (bold and regular)

Use recorded voice or text-to-speech for story title playback

1.2.1

May 16, 2011

- Automatically detects iPad 2 screen mirroring when using HDMI or VGA adapters.- Now supports Component and Composite Adapters with the TV Safe area mode for external displays.- Improved layout for story playback presentation mode on external displays.- Adds option to scale small images to fill screen.- Adds option to reset Pictello Sharing Server account password using either the username or the email address of the account.- Various bug fixes.

1.2

Mar 16, 2011

- Now supports the Apple VGA Adapter. iPhone 4, iPod Touch 4G and iPad users can choose between presenting their stories on an external screen or mirroring all Pictello screens to the external display. Ideal for sharing stories in the classroom or training people on how to use Pictello.

- Now provides multi-line text fields to facilitate the creation of longer top and bottom labels.

- Many smaller enhancements and bug fixes.

1.1.1

Jan 6, 2011

- Increased reliability for swipe-to-turn-pages; now on by default for new users- Enhanced user interface for moving stories between folders- Numerous small fixes and improvements on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad

1.1

Dec 19, 2010

- Full iPad compatibility- Full VoiceOver support for vision impaired users- Availability of children's voices- Support for higher resolution images- Larger buttons in the story reader and other interface enhancements- Numerous small fixes and improvements

1.0

Oct 16, 2010

Apr 24, 2018

Version 3.5

This update introduces the first genuine Dutch Text to Speech voices for children, Merel and Thijs. We spent nearly a year creating these voices in collaboration with Acapela Group and NSGK, and we’re very happy to be able to offer young Dutch AAC users voices which they can identify with.

Version 3.5 includes some bug fixes. This update also includes display optimization for all models of iPad.

Thanks again for using our app!

Ratings and Reviews

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better!

Sep 29, 2013

abbey'smom

We were already so in love with this app…and then it happened, now you can add videos! We love it because it is so easy to use for myself and for my very highly impacted, nonverbal 11 yr old with autism. She never had any interest before of looking at pictures of her family or of social stories, I just don't think she saw the need. Now, after putting family albums and some motivating stories about her fav foods, she's hooked!:) I thought she'd only want to look at certain ones, but she goes through them all, over and over, even the social stories, like Going to the Dentist! I'm amazed at her response and so pleased! But now, with videos, when I added videos of her bowling to her story about her very first time bowling and of her playing in the water at the beach, I can't even describe her face! She grinned from ear to ear and then was just giddy! Now, that is priceless!!

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better!

Sep 29, 2013

abbey'smom

We were already so in love with this app…and then it happened, now you can add videos! We love it because it is so easy to use for myself and for my very highly impacted, nonverbal 11 yr old with autism. She never had any interest before of looking at pictures of her family or of social stories, I just don't think she saw the need. Now, after putting family albums and some motivating stories about her fav foods, she's hooked!:) I thought she'd only want to look at certain ones, but she goes through them all, over and over, even the social stories, like Going to the Dentist! I'm amazed at her response and so pleased! But now, with videos, when I added videos of her bowling to her story about her very first time bowling and of her playing in the water at the beach, I can't even describe her face! She grinned from ear to ear and then was just giddy! Now, that is priceless!!

Excellent tool

Aug 4, 2012

mrs> B

I have over 600 apps on my iTunes account and this is hands down my favorite! I have a twenty year old son who has autism and I work with many students who have special needs from prek to age 21 post high school. This app is great for receptive learning. It can be used to make talking storybooks, social stories also for teaching skills step by step. It can also be used expressively as a tool for writing as it allows students to pair their writing with a visual. It also allows written output to be broken into smaller more manageable chunks. An added benifit is students can work on reading fluency when they record their stories . It is a great tool for individuals who ate non verbal to relate experiential stories to share on a social level. We have also used this app for vocabulary development making talking flashcards. There are so many good uses for this app I could go on and on. A must have app if you are a teacher!!!

Excellent tool

Aug 4, 2012

mrs> B

I have over 600 apps on my iTunes account and this is hands down my favorite! I have a twenty year old son who has autism and I work with many students who have special needs from prek to age 21 post high school. This app is great for receptive learning. It can be used to make talking storybooks, social stories also for teaching skills step by step. It can also be used expressively as a tool for writing as it allows students to pair their writing with a visual. It also allows written output to be broken into smaller more manageable chunks. An added benifit is students can work on reading fluency when they record their stories . It is a great tool for individuals who ate non verbal to relate experiential stories to share on a social level. We have also used this app for vocabulary development making talking flashcards. There are so many good uses for this app I could go on and on. A must have app if you are a teacher!!!

Awesome App!

Sep 23, 2011

JLukasz

My son is 19 and has Autism, non-verbal. This is a terrific way for him to now have a picture schedule for each day of the week. The technology is easy to use just as with Assistiveware's Proloquo2Go. Pictello allows me to create his schedule just as you would a story so he know exactly what he will do from the moment he gets up until the moment he goes to bed. In addition we can now create outing stories for him to share with his peers at school, he is the only non-verbal in his class. I have already set up Proloquo2go to facilitate two-way-conversation so now a story book for him to share is great! No more velcro pictures for this house! This is the way of the future! Love this product!!!

Awesome App!

Sep 23, 2011

JLukasz

My son is 19 and has Autism, non-verbal. This is a terrific way for him to now have a picture schedule for each day of the week. The technology is easy to use just as with Assistiveware's Proloquo2Go. Pictello allows me to create his schedule just as you would a story so he know exactly what he will do from the moment he gets up until the moment he goes to bed. In addition we can now create outing stories for him to share with his peers at school, he is the only non-verbal in his class. I have already set up Proloquo2go to facilitate two-way-conversation so now a story book for him to share is great! No more velcro pictures for this house! This is the way of the future! Love this product!!!